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Water works for your workforce
The wisdom around staying hydrated is nothing new but advice has changed over the years. It has been variously recommended that an adult should consume between 1.2 litres and as much as 2.5 litres per day! But something on which all scientists agree is that hydration is vital and that it is better to drink little and often throughout the day.
In the workplace, hydration is particularly important for productivity. Research shows that a drop of as little as 1% in a person’s body mass through fluid loss can have an impact on their mental and physical performance. Wherever you are working; be it at home, in an office, on the road or on a construction site, that can mean a lack of concentration, tiredness, headaches and longer term, a reduction in kidney and heart efficiency too. Productivity heads out the window. For those in more physically demanding roles the effects of dehydration can be more dangerous for the worker or those around them.
Promote a healthy hydration habit
While keeping properly hydrated makes great sense, it is a habit that sometimes needs a ‘nudge’ which is why more and more responsible employers are encouraging sensible water consumption in the workplace. George works in the UK where there is a legal imperative to provide “an adequate supply of ‘wholesome’ drinking water”, and similar laws are in place across Europe. But it should not need the law to enforce what is good business sense. A hydrated workforce is a healthier workforce. And while they have nothing against coffee, tea or soft drinks, most employers recognise that water is calorie free and kinder to the teeth so, better all round for fostering employee health.
Giving water the wow factor in the workplace
Understandably, simply turning on your kitchen tap isn’t exactly going to have employees queuing up to take on water. While the municipal water may be perfectly fine to drink, your workplace employees may be fussy about what they drink. Many would prefer to buy their own water in plastic bottles, with all the sustainability issues they raise, or worse still abstain altogether. So, rather than relying on the kitchen sink, a water dispenser is the best way to encourage your office-based employees to take on more water. These devices provide an endless supply of clear, filtered water.
Mains-fed or bottle dispensed water dispensers?
While consumers may think that bottled water is best (even from a dispenser), that perception is based on a lack of awareness of the outstanding filtration capability in today’s main-fed water dispensers. At their most basic, modern water dispensers feature carbon-block cartridge filters which remove the odours and off-taste that can be found in some municipal water. Additionally, many also use microfiltration cartridges that remove harmful bacterial and microscopic particles that can be present in tap water.
The water output through these filters is as healthy and pure as the world’s premium bottled brands. Contrast and compare with the large, cumbersome upturned bottles, where water sits sometimes for weeks, until they are emptied. While these larger bottles can be reused, they still need to be delivered, lifted, stored and collected. Unless plumbing is simply not possible, a mains-fed dispenser is a better all-round option. And once they are installed they are highly cost-effective to run, with cartridges having the capacity to treat thousands of litres of water before being replaced.
